


Just Call It 'Play for the Zeroes'

by Firadania



Category: Smosh, Smosh Games
Genre: Band Fic, F/M, M/M, music fic
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2013-01-28
Updated: 2013-01-28
Packaged: 2017-11-27 07:10:17
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,020
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/659274
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Firadania/pseuds/Firadania
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Basically, just a Marinki and Jovencorn fanfic, which has the 4 of them join up and become a band.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. We Were Only Strangers

**Author's Note:**

> My rather failed attempt at writing a good, Smoshy fanfiction. Tell me whatcha think.

Mari was an independent type of person, which meant that she didn’t like asking people for help. The problem was, she couldn’t start a one-girl band. Sure, she had the voice for it, but she hadn’t played a guitar in years. There was a competition coming up soon, and the prize money was totally worth the effort. All she needed was a band to play with.  
She sat on her couch, staring at the blank plasma T.V for what seemed like hours; until she came up with an idea. Mari wasn’t sure that it would work, but if it did, she was a genius.

And that was how she ended up in her old, musty garage, tapping her pen boredly on the table that she sat at. She’d advertised in the newspaper a week ago, and stuck up flyers; her feet still hurt from all the walking that she’d had to do. There was money mentioned in the advertisements, so she was sure that some people would turn up.  
A whole hour passed, in which she was contemplating going inside and taking a nap, or mixing some new lyrics to a song.   
Finally, a white van pulled up inside, and Mari raised her head from its drowsy position. The girl quickly sat up and swept back her hair, at the ready fro the first audition.  
A person exited the van, collecting their equipment from the back and lugging it toward the house. She gave a friendly wave at which they nodded, hands being full so that they couldn’t exactly wave back. As they neared, she noticed it was a guy. A cute guy. He’d be a nice addition to the band with his closely-shorn hair and deep eyes, the Asian girl thought dreamily.  
“Hey, are you alright?” Mari shook herself awake as the man set down his guitar case and speaker on the concrete. She offered a hand out to him and they shook; even though there was a cold wind blowing outside and the clouds were drawn over the sun, his hand was warm. “I, uh, just wanted to clarify that this is a rock band, right? Not one of those weird techno Asian ones?”  
“No, it’s definitely rock,” she laughed, maybe a little too loudly and a little too much. “What are you going to be playing for me today?”  
“Kryptonite, by Three Doors Down. I don’t know if you’ve heard of it...?”  
“Yeah, course I have, they aren’t too bad. Sweet guitar riffs, if you can pull it off.” Mari gestured to him to set himself up around the garage; waiting patiently, she watched him tune his electric guitar with care and set the volume at a respectable low level.  
When he started playing, she was sold almost instantly. His fingers glided sensuously over the guitar strings, strumming and plucking in the right places. They were definitely the hands of a talented musician. and Mari found herself tapping her foot softly and humming along to the chorus.  
He cleared his throat suddenly, and she realized that he had finished playing.  
“That was, amazing... wow.” The man shrugged and fiddled with his guitar strap, glancing down briefly at her clipboard.   
“So, are you going to take my name and number?”  
“Oh, yeah, of course!” Mari said quickly, picking up her pen. Scribbling down his name at the top of her clipboard, the girl cautiously asked for his phone number. He grinned, reciting it with ease while she tried to keep down her blush; goddamnit, she didn’t blush.  
“You know, it was nice to meet you, Mari.” The man had packed up his equipment and was standing awkwardly by the open garage door, a cold, wintery afternoon framed behind him. “I was wondering, if maybe, if I didn’t get into the band, we could go out for lunch or something?”  
“That’d be nice. Besides, you know where I live.” He grinned, giving her one last wave before he packed his gear into the back of his van and drove away.  
It wasn’t till she was sure that he had gone that she over his name again with her pen; Matt Sohinki. Even now, she was fairly sure that she would give him the part of lead guitar.  
***  
Her next auditioner was a drummer. It was a part of the band that was quite important, since they tied the band together with the rhythm that they played, so she wasn’t sure how she was going to pick.   
He stumbled with his gear into the garage, clattering it onto the dense concrete with a wince. Once, he even dropped a cymbal on his foot, which caused her to discover his colourful vocabulary.   
Eventually, he stood in front of her table, pasting a grin on his face as he straightened his Batman t-shirt. He looked... meh. A bit nerdy, with his glasses and spiked hair as well as a Bat tat. And, even though he was doing his best to look happy, there was something going on behind the facade; it worried the girl slightly.  
“Show me what you’ve got, Bat Boy.” The man gave her a suspicious look as he sat down, twirling his sticks.  
It was his passion that really got through to her. He wasn’t the mad hatter type who pounded at the drum with only a little sense of rhythm, but he wasn’t the quiet type that no-one could hear. And it sounded like he treated his set with care, not to mention that he had a taste for playing.  
The dark-haired drummist signed down his own name and number in a scrawling manner, sliding the clipboard back before saluting the girl adieu and disappearing in his slightly battered Honda.  
His name was written Joshua Ovenshire, and Mari noticed a little snarky comment written in the margin, ‘I’m the best drummer you’ll get today.’  
***  
Despite his cockiness, he turned out to be right. The absolute worst she got was a man who looked to be in his late 40’s and looked, not to mention smelled, like an old hippy in need of a bath.  
She gave a sigh of relief when a bass player dragged in his instrument just as it began to rain; she’d been waiting for it after all of the bad weather today, and now it was late in the evening, maybe an hour before the sun was going to set. Her butt had gone sore from sitting there for so long, and her stomach was rumbling.  
“Had many bass players in today?” he asked, making small talk as he began to set up.   
“Actually, only one other guy. You haven’t got much competition, luckily.”   
“First good news I’ve had all day.” Slinging his guitar strap over his head, he grinned, eyes shining happily even though most of his shirt was soaked. It made Mari smile back, even if she was tired, hungry and altogether grumpy. He was like a little beacon of joy, and it made her want to say he was in the band immediately.  
He hit all the chords with ease, like he could have had his eyes closed and played that well. Surely there was another band out there that should have snapped him up by now. But, lucky her, had him casually playing in her garage while rain patter on the tin roof.  
Like Joshua, he signed himself, declining her offer of help with his heavy speaker. She watched him cheerily whistle his way through the rain with his gear and then leave. He was both the happiest and last auditioner she for the day.   
The Asian girl stretched her arms high to the sky, hearing something click loudly. After that, food was the first thing on her mind after she closed the garage door and picked up her clipboard.   
Too lazy to do anything else, Mari made a peanut butter and jam sandwich before plonking herself down on the couch. She clicked on her T.V with the remote, and proceeded to forget about the auditions.  
She fell asleep in her bright clothes on a vaguely uncomfortable couch with the T.V flashing brightly to light up the shadowy room.


	2. But Maybe We Knew

She woke up late in the morning to a death metal song killing her surround sound. She fumbled around for the remote before switching it off, sighing in relief that she didn’t have a headache.  
What she did have was a sore neck from sleeping in an awkward angle, and her dark hair was mussed from sleep; picking up her phone, she saw that it was 11.30. Mari groaned loudly just as her stomach grumbled. Lunchtime. Or just really late breakfast time.  
As she was tipping milk into her cereal bowl, she noticed the abandoned clipboard lying on the bench; it would be a bit desperate for her to call everyone up today, it hadn’t even been 24 hours since the auditions. But then again, there wasn’t much time left to the competition.  
Mari continued to stare at the board as she ate her cereal, her decision coming to a head as she ate her last spoonful.   
May as well bite the bullet and do it now.  
Her eyes lazily looked the list up and down, and she picked up a pencil to put a tick beside each of the names that she picked. It was a fairly easy decision, even though there was a lot of choice involved.

He wasn’t at home when his phone started vibrating in his pocket, ringtone trilling loudly to make him blush and feel embarrassed. He excused himself from the game he was playing with his friend, and went outside to answer the phone call.  
“Hello?”  
“Matt, it’s me, Mari! From the band audition yesterday?”  
“Oh, really?” His brow furrowed. “I didn’t think that you’d be calling me this early. I mean, you only held the auditions yesterday, isn’t it a bit soon?”  
“The other bands entering the competition aren’t exactly waiting around, so I thought the sooner the better, you know? Anyway, I was wondering if you still wanted lead guitar?”  
“Yeah, of course I would!” Sohinki was kind of surprised that he had been accepted into the band, because like some musicians, he didn’t think he was that talented. He didn’t even really like playing in front of his friends.  
“Cool! Then, are you free this Thursday for band practice?”  
“I should be.” Who was he kidding, he’d make time for the practice. “I’ll see you there, Mari.” Matt hung up in a happy mood, sliding the cellphone back into his jean pocket as he went back into his friend’s apartment.

When she rang Joshua, he wasn’t as quick to pick up. It was about a minute before he answered, and she was impatiently tapping her foot on the floor when he decided to do so.  
“Who is this?” he asked as soon as the call had gone through. There were gun noises and grunts in the background, so Mari guessed that she was on loud speaker and he was playing Halo or something.  
“It’s Mari. You know, you came to my garage and played drums for me, and now is about the time where I ring you and tell you whether you’re my drummer or not?” The ‘pew pew pew’ sounds stopped immediately and there was a rustle as the man picked up his phone properly.  
“Technically, I wouldn’t be yours,” he joked as the Asian girl rolled her eyes. “I didn’t think you’d be calling me back this early, though. Did I get in?”  
“I saw that cocky little comment that you left me,” she replied, practically hearing his grin through the phone. “And you were kinda right. Yeah, you’re in. My house on Thursday for practice?”  
“I’ll cancel if I’m doing something. See you before lunch.”

Her call to David went to voicemail straight away, a very strange voicemail.  
“This is Lasercorn here, I’m either busy or I don’t like you. Press 1 if you are here to harass me because you lost a game to me online and you think I’m a cheater. Press 2 if you are one of my actual friends and I know you personally. Press 3 if your name is Mari, because you’re probably here to tell me I got into the band.”  
She pushed 3 and was about to leave a message for him when she heard a familiar voice say,  
“Did I get in?”  
“Hi to you, too. Why does it say Lasercorn on your voicemail?” There was a chuckle from the other side of the line.  
“Ah, now that is a story for band practice. Which reminds me, when is band practice? I’m free Wednesday to Saturday.”  
“How are you so sure that you got in?”  
“When I asked you, you said that there was only one other bassist in that day, so I’m obviously better. You still haven’t answered my question.” His confidence was refreshing, and Mari felt herself grin when she said,  
“Thursday.”  
“Sweet, I’ll be there. Remember to buy Fruit Snacks! Every great band needs Fruit Snacks!” He hung up on her before she could say anything else.  
Lasercorn sure sounded more interesting than David Moss, name wise.  
***  
Matt was casually reclining on his own couch, having returned home a few hours ago and he had also ordered pizza for dinner. He was still on his happy high that he had been accepted into Mari’s band, even if the other members of the band were complete strangers to him.  
The T.V was showing an old action film that he hadn’t seen in a while; he laughed at the comedy lightly.  
The man’s eyes strayed to the coffee table as his phone began to vibrate violently, an unknown number flashing on the screen. He was going to dismiss the call and continue watching the movie, but knew that there was a small chance that it was important. Not to mention he would feel bad about it later.  
“Hello,” Sohinki answered the phone with a sigh.  
“Matt, you won’t believe it, but I finally got into a band!” The man paused.  
“David? Is that you?”  
“What?” The caller on the other side sounded confused at his questions. “Of course it’s me! I’m one of your contacts on your phone, aren’t I?”  
“About that...” A while back, he and David had gotten into a fight over... something personal that he didn’t want to think about, not now. Needless to say, the two of them hadn’t exactly stayed in touch over he had deleted the number.   
“Oh. You deleted my number. I should have guessed, after what happened. Matt, if it means anything to you, I’m really sorry. It was more my fault then yours.”  
“Thanks, but I don’t want to hear about it,” mumbled Matt, massaging his forehead. “What’s this I hear about a new band?”  
“Well, there were heaps of flyers around town about it, and I was coming out of work when I saw one of them and saw one. So I went to the address and auditioned, and there was this kinda hot Asian chick there, her name started with a M... damn, what was it?”  
“Mari?”  
“Yeah! How did you know?” Sohinki’s heart sank at the thought of being in the same band as David. That had happened before, and hadn’t ended in the greatest way. If there was a repeat of that incident...  
“Because, I got into that band as well,” he said heavily.  
Oh. Oh.” A long time passed in silence, neither of them really wanting to speak. “Well, uhm, it might work out-”  
“It wouldn’t. But... there isn’t exactly anything that we can do, Mari asked us into her band, not the other auditioners... David.” He said the man’s name in all seriousness. “Promise me you won’t do what you did last time.”  
“Yeah man, that’s the least that I can do to make it up to you.” The doorbell rang, making Matt swivel his head to look at the front door.  
“I’ve gotta go, my pizza’s here. I guess that means I’ll see you on Thursday, then.”  
“Bye Matt,” David said wistfully, and the man waited until he heard dial tone.  
He tipped the pizza guy more than usual, and sat down to another lonely night with pizza and television for company.

The light was off, the curtains were drawn, and he was on his own in a large, seemingly empty apartment. Tom had come by earlier to pick up his stuff while he had been at work. The man was still staring at the note he had left behind, taped to the fridge.   
He didn’t like being alone; hell, he never had. He always tried his hardest in relationships, keep the other person just as happy as they kept him. This time, it had been just as much of a hopeless cause as the other times.   
He threw back his head as he took another shot of vodka, feeling the back of his throat burn and sting like the flames of Hell were trying to burn him up from the inside. Already, a quarter of the vodka was gone, but he didn’t care as he went to pour himself another glass. (SHOT GLASS)  
The only good news that he’d had all day was that he’d gotten into the band; there was something that could distract from his own mind. He swigged another shot, coughing afterwards. The man’s pocket began to vibrate, probably another worried call or text from Tom.  
Tom could go fuck himself.  
He was determined now, as he drank the memories away, that he would stay home and live on takeaways until Thursday; he’d call in sick to work and lie. He just didn’t want to be out in public right now.  
Joshua felt himself sway precariously as he went to return the vodka bottle back to it’s rightful place in the kitchen; he’d drunk quite a lot, to his surprise. He hadn’t even realized that he’d thrown back over half a bottle.   
Oh, how time flies when you’re mildly depressed, he thought bitterly to himself.


End file.
